Rays vs Blue Jays Prediction - MLB Picks 10/1/23

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The Tampa Bay Rays will play the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of their series on Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto won the first game in this series by a score of 11-4, but Tampa Bay answered with a win in Game 2 by a score of 7-5 on Saturday. 

Rays Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays are 98-63 this season and they have won three of their last four games. Tampa Bay hasn’t played their best baseball over the last two weeks, but they are locked into the first AL Wild Card spot. The Rays have scored 5+ runs in five of their last six games. The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 3.84 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a .230 opponent batting average this year. The Rays offense has scored 848 runs with a .259 batting average and a .331 on base percentage. Randy Arozarena is batting .254 with 23 home runs and 83 RBI’s for the Rays. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Taj Bradley, who is 5-8 with a 5.56 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP over 103.2 innings pitched this season.

Blue Jays Preview

The Toronto Blue Jays are 89-72 this season and they have lost three of their last five games. Prior to this series, Toronto lost two out of three games at home against the Yankees. The Blue Jays did clinch a Wild Card berth, but they could finish second or third in the Wild Card standings. The Toronto pitching staff has a 3.73 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and a .240 opponent batting average. The Blue Jays offense has scored 738 runs with a .256 batting average and a .328 on base percentage this season. Bo Bichette is batting .307 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI’s for the Blue Jays. The projected starting pitcher for Toronto is Kevin Gausman, who is 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP over 185 innings pitched this year.

Toronto Blue Jays Team Facts

  • The Blue Jays have won each of their last five day games following a loss.
  • The Blue Jays have failed to cover the run line in 11 of their last 12 games against American League opponents after going to extra innings.
  • The Blue Jays have lost the first inning in each of their last three day games against American League opponents.
  • The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Blue Jays' last three day games.

Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts

  • The Rays have lost each of their last five day games against American League opponents following a road win.
  • The road team has covered the run line in eight of the Rays' last nine games.
  • The Rays have won the first inning in each of their last six day games against AL East opponents.
  • The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Rays' last five day games.

Matchup/League Facts

  • The Toronto Blue Jays are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both strikeouts and on-base percentage this season.
  • The Toronto Blue Jays rank T5th in the league for runs allowed this season (659).
  • The Tampa Bay Rays are one of only 3 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and batting average this season.
  • The Tampa Bay Rays are one of only 3 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and home runs this season.

Pick

The Blue Jays have to be excited about clinching a playoff berth on Saturday, but there is still work to be done to avoid dropping to the third Wild Card seed. Tampa Bay has been safely in the postseason for a while now, but they are looking to end the season on a positive note after struggling a little bit down the stretch. Toronto is starting Kevin Gausman, who has allowed 0 earned runs over his last two starts (13 IP). Tampa Bay is starting Taj Bradley, who has allowed eight earned runs over his last 13 innings of work. Gausman has been a very solid pitcher this season and I like the Jays to get the win here. 

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.

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